Saturday, April 6, 2019

3 PRESENT,
2 FORMER MERCER SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS CHARGED WITH CRIMINAL FELONIES

Deanna Pierpont, Noel Brandt, Micki Pierce-Holmstrom, Kelly Kohegyi and
Denise Thompson have been charged with Class I criminal felony counts in the
Iron County Circuit Court by District Attorney Matthew J. Tingstad.

All five defendants have been ordered
to appear before Circuit Court Judge Patrick J. Madden for initial
appearances at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, April 22, the same day as the Mercer School
Board meeting at 5 p.m. At the initial appearances, dates for preliminary hearings will be set. At some point,
the defendants will be asked to enter pleas of guilty or not guilty and post bonds.Eventually trial dates will be set.

Of course, in every criminal case the
defendant must be considered innocent until proven guilty.

It is possible that Judge Madden may need
to recuse himself from trying, at least, Pierpont and Kohegyi, in which case a
judge from another county will be brought in.Judge Madden is believed to be a longtime friend of the two defendants.

The crimes with which all five are charged
are consider Class I felony offenses.A
Class I offense is punishable by up to 3 ½ years in state prison, fines up to
$10,000, or both imprisonment and a fine. A Class felony is the least severe
felony offense in Wisconsin.

The details of the alleged offenses
are not spelled out in the Circuit Court case summaries, which were filed by
District Attorney Tingstad. However, in
the State of Wisconsin vs. Deanna Pierpont, (Iron County Case Number
2019CF000014) she is charged with two counts of “Misconduct/Office-Act/Excess
Authority, Wisconsin statute 946.12(2)".

That statute reads: “946.12(2)In the officer's or employee's capacity as
such officer or employee, does an act which the officer or employee knows is in
excess of the officer's or employee's lawful authority or which the officer or
employee knows the officer or employee is forbidden by law to do in the
officer's or employee's official capacity.”

It is believed that those charges
stem from Pierpont’s alleged destruction of a video recording of the October
2017 Mercer School District annual meeting. It is unlawful to destroy a public record, and
video recordings made by a school would be considered a public record.

In a July 2018 page one Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel article Pierpont is quoted as saying that she erased the recording. “I
didn’t like what I saw…I just felt that I didn’t want that that out on the
website,” Pierpont is quoted as saying.Until then all Mercer School Board meetings had been recorded and put on
the school’s website.

The video would show a turbulent incident
in which Board member Noel Brandt confronted a Mercer resident who was trying
to discuss what he called the district’s “pathetic” ACT scores. A deputy sheriff intervened.An audio recording of the incident and
statements by the deputy sheriff and the Mercer resident may have been factored
into the charges against Pierpont.

The charge against Noel Brandt may
also stem from that October 2017 annual school district meeting fracas.He is charged in “Iron County Case Number
2019CF000010 State of Wisconsin vs. Noel W Brandt” with the same “Misconduct/Office-Act/Excess
Authority, Wisconsin statute 946.12(2)”.

Michele (Micki) Holmstrom, owner of
Century 21 Pierce Realty in Mercer, is charged with same criminal felony count
in “Iron County Case Number 2019CF000011 State of Wisconsin vs. Michele L.
Holmstrom”.Her charge may be the result
of when she shouted out obscenities while the Brandt incident was
occurring.Although the video was erased,
the audio recording was turned over to the sheriff’s deputy who investigated
the cases.

The criminal felony charges against
Colleen (Kelly) Kohegyi “Iron County Case Number 2019CF000012 State of
Wisconsin vs. Colleen E. Kohegyi”, and Denise F. Thompson, owner of Tom’s Café in
Mercer “Iron County Case Number 2019CF000013 State of Wisconsin vs. Denise F.
Thompson" relate to an entirely different matter than the October 2017 meeting.

Their charges are for a violation of Wisconsin statute
948.69(2)(b) Falsely Exercise Function /Public Office.That statute reads: “946.69 Falsely
assuming to act as a public officer or employee or a utility employee.

946.69(2) (2) Whoever does
any of the following is guilty of a Class I felony:

946.69(2)(b) (b) Exercises
any function of a public office, knowing that he or she has not qualified so to
act or that his or her right so to act has ceased.

Kohegyi and Thompson
signed their names on a May 1, 2018, letter to the Wisconsin Department of
Instruction as members of the Mercer School Board.They were not on the board at that that time.

This litigation
may extend over many months.Meanwhile,
please remember what was said at the start of this blog: these defendants must
be considered innocent until proven guilty.

22 comments:

Interesting that this was brought AFTER the election. I would think that all the commentary on all the mailings we have received from these people might have reeked of LESS THAN PROFESSIONAL. Maybe, Christa, attitude aside, would have been re-elected. That these people are being looked at by the State's Attorney at all, should give everyone some cause to be concerned. I saw the posts of late last night. I think that each of these people have had restless nights. Wondering how their friends will think of them now that they have, as a group, been under investigation sufficient to bring charges. Whatcha gonna be doin readers, at 10:30am on the 22nd?

Pierpont, Kohegyi and Thompson were supporters of Bob Davis. Davis called them and their group “wonderful people.” Let’s hope he uses better judgment in handling school board matters. Mercer voters were certainly misled by him and these “wonderful people” in the recent election.

"This litigation may extend over many months." We have watched for years. These will be long months for the 5. These will be justified to all of us who have watched over the years and been disgusted by the inaction of the court and the very people we entrusted with the education of our students. Add to this, the fact that DPI still has some outstanding issues to release. Mercer Theatre.

People should consider that this same group, with the exception of Mr. Brandt, were warned by the previous Iron County DA about their actions as board members. There are laws concerning what one can and can't do when holding office - and being responsible for the students and a $3M budget.

In looking at the comments of these previous school board members and their supporters, they are claiming that because the case is listed as 'filed only' that no charges have yet been filed, only that the case has been given to the DA and filed for review. A man named Micah Magma is posting these comments publicly on his Facebook page, and at least two defendants are commenting to him, expressing their appreciation for him (in their mind) setting the record straight.

In case you are wondering about the veracity of Mr. Magma's claims, he is very wrong. And he is not doing the defendants a favor by posting that comment. There have been criminal charges filed, and these five are in significant legal jeopardy. Here's a link to a free legal Q&A site, where two Wisconsin lawyers explained what it means for a case to be listed as 'filed only.' https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/if-a-case-on-ccap-is-listed-as--filed-only--what-d-1414493.html

It appears Mr. Magma reads this blog, so I hope he will check out this site and realize his post was inaccurate. While I certainly want justice to happen, I don't think any fair-minded person would feel justice is being served if the defendants believe false information and thus conclude they are not in serious legal trouble. The public also deserves to know the severity of what is happening instead of being misled into thinking this is not a big deal.

Let’s get this straight. As much of a spin as Brundage would like to put on this to cover her stupid statements of the past, the complaints were filed by a deputy sheriff after a lengthy investigation. Christa Reinert had nothing to do with it. Several Mercer citizens complained to the DA as early as last June and the DA had the sheriff’s department conduct a thorough investigation. Trying to put the blame on Mercer School Facts won’t work either. The alleged offenses were caused by the defendants not by MSF or anyone else.

Nope they are trying to get Lelyn Schmidt’s lawyer to represent them (Denise, Deanna & Kelly to be exact) The deafblind child that the parents removed from the district, knowingly that he has been the family’s lawyer against the Mercer School since September 2018 (MSF quote the write up’s on this page for his info)

Maybe you can answer this? Is the Mercer School website controlled by Torkelson? I also believe he is the one that would record the Mercer School Board meetings. Therefore, would he not have had a role in the deletion of the particular school board video in question?

Christa did nothing wrong but wanted our kids..and hoped her kids...would have had a chance at a great education where they lived. THese 5 didnt. To those who dont see this, there is no hope for you.... or your kids. Davis, we will be watching you. Learn from these 5.

What’s Brundage’s problem? She keeps trying to bring this back to Christa. The DA ordered the investigation and the sheriff’s deputy brought the charges. We don’t need people like this with their muddled thinking in Mercer.

Mercer School Facts will not post any comments which imply or assume the guilt of the five accused. They are presumed innocent until a court finds them guilty or not guilty. Nor will MSF post comments from individuals who are ignorant of how our judicial system works and suggest that the whole matter was conceived by a “hate group.” A number of people brought the matters on which the charges are based to the attention of the district attorney who then had the sheriff’s department conduct a thorough investigation. The district attorney brought the charges based on complaints from the sheriff’s department. Any twists or spins otherwise further discredits a small group which seems determined to want to assail well-meaning individuals and create dissention in our community. Enough comments have already been posted to this particular blog and no others will be posted.